I’m in a college class on new media and I am doing a project regarding participatory culture and online campaigns. I was wondering if you might take the time to comment on this post and address some of the following questions:
1) How often do you use MyIssue.DevalPatrick.com or Policy.DevalPatrick.com?
2) What is your use? Have you started issues and become a coordinator or simply voted/supported issues and left comments?
3) Do you find this to be a valuable networking tool out of which real action can grow or has grown? Would this activism otherwise be harder to organize? Or does it just seem to be a way for the governor to guage public opinion?
4) Who else do you think participates in the tool? Is Deval reaching new audiences with this, or is it just a new way to engage the same old active organizing crowd? How might this tool be marketed or changed to reach new audiences, and would this be valuable?
5) What do you think of the heavy support for conservative issues such as VoteOnMarriage and abolishing gun control? Is this representative of the citizens of the state or just those affluent enough to be online all the time? Or is it evidence of specific mobilization and very disproportionate?
6) Anything else you might find relevant.
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.
I note that Fathers and Families, an organization supporting legislation in favor of a shared parenting presumption, organized its members – and its members are composed of conservatives, liberals, eccentrics, Democrats, Republicans, you name it, and took their issue to #1 status, and I think that was helpful in the legislative campain in favor of shared parenting.
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I did post an issue relative to reforming the Department f Social Services. However, child welfare is more of an “orphan issue”, and is not supported by any organization such as Fathers & Families – and of course children in foster care, and those impacted by DSS are not an organized and effective constituency. You can find my issue by inputing “DSS” under issues. There are many issues that come up – none with more than 26 or so supporters. We have, however, met up to an extent and begun our own private listserv…
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The whole site is new enough that gauging impact really is not possible yet, but I personally do not view it as showboating and do feel it gives folk a place to articulate their concerns where there is at least some possibility of light and air.